Nut wrench



May 26, 19.31- H. A. woon-:VER

NUT WRENCH Filed April 29. 1929 In/venten:

MOZQUQT'.

'c the provision of a catch Patented May 26, 1931 p' UNETED STATES rigores@ i HERBERT A.. W'OOTJTJFJR,Y OIE' ORANGE, PENNSYLVANIA i NUT WRENCH Application filed April 29, 1929.A Serial No. 358,924.

My invention relates to an improvement in wrenches, particularly to that type in which the movable jaw is actuated by a relatively movable nut and screw, the nut being seg- 5 mental and releasable to temporarily disconnect the same Jr'rorn the screw, allowing the movable jaw to be readily moved to its approximate position, .whereupon the nut is again connected to the screw and atight adj ustment is made thereby.

Wrenches of this lgeneral class have heretotore been known but the release mechanism of these devices have certain faults which prevent the same from being placed in general use, and it is the object of this invention toA improve the constructionof such mechanism to produce a wrench that is strong anddurable, yet beingcapable Aof quick manipulation for the purpose of the function above eX- pressed, such construction involving as few parts as practical and thesebeing assembled insuch a manner as to prevent the same from being displacedduring rough and continued usage. Y. Y'

Further objects vof myinvention reside in the construction of the slide that carries the' loose or releasable halfy of the split nut, as welllas the means for guiding this slide. 4Still another object of my invention lies in that kpositively holds the Asplitnut in or out of engagement with the screw, being especially useful on large and heavy wrenches, as in these wrenches-there is come displaced. j

i Other objects of my invention will 'beapparent from the following'description of my preferred embodiment, taken lin connection with th accompanying drawings,inwhich structed'in accordance with my invention.

' Fig. 2is a. similar view, partly in section, Fig. 3 is an enlarged Vdetail view, illustratc ing the construction ofthe movable jaw, and

5 split nut,

a tendency orthe split half of the nut to loe- Figure 1 isa sideview of a wrench con- Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken online 6-6 of Fig. 4.

T isa sectional view taken on line 7 -7 of Fig. 1, and l. I

Fig. l8 is a'modification of my invention, showing the release mechanism asbeing applied to" an automobile wrench. Y

Like numerals of reference represent like parts throughout the severalA views of the drawings. y

Figs. 1 to 7 of the drawings illustrate the invention in connectionA with a monkey wrench, comprising the xed jaw 1, atVth/e upper end of shank 2, movable jawl 3 slidable on the shank, screw bearing 4, and handle 5 slipped Aon the reduced end of the shank and held in place against the usual"abutmentV bymeans of the clamping nut 6. The general construction of the movable jaw is illustrated in Fig.3, being of integral form and including the jaw proper 7, a downwardly extending member 8, and lower brace member, the

jaw andbracemember being slotted to slidably receive the aforementionedshank 2,r and the downwardly extending member having a bore 8d to lloosely'receive the customary screw 10 and cut awayto orrn'the plain halt of the split nut, `vas more clearly disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5.' rllhe other-or threaded half 11 of the split nut is received invsaid cut away @fl portion and is secured to anut slide as by rivets 12, said slide comprising two U-shaped straps 13 13a of sheet metal, and as shown in Fig. 5 thev former is bent around the nut and bracemember of the movable jaw, with the upper and lower portions 13?) extending to the rear thereohwhile the strap 13a joins these rearwardly eXtendi-ng end portions eX- teriorly overlapping the same. andk being riveted thereto, as shown in4 Fig. 4. Since the medial portion of strap 13a ijs-spaced rom'the said shank 2 and brace member 9' the slide may be moved to the left to thereby openthe split nut and release the screw 10.V However as the, saidfnut should normally be vconnected to the screw a spring' 14 on guide pin 1 5 is provided'to yieldably keep the slide in its positionto the right, with the nut closed, and'to positively maintain theV slide in this position, a spring catch 16 is provided, said 3 gage the lower edge of the rear `strap 13a to hold the half nut in either position to which it 1s moved. In the case of small wrenches this catch is not necessary, ibut` when my 1nvention is appliedto large heavy wrenches itis particularly useful for reasons as aforestated. To properly guide the slide as well as hold the same with relation to the movable jaw I provide a narrow' U-shaped guide strap 17 bent around or conforming` to the rear portion ofthe aforementioned brace Y member and secured thereto as by rivets 18.

The endsof the yfront straprl of the slide are rearwardly slottedto receive this guide strap and provide the extensions 13b as is readily apparent. In this connection it will be'noticed that the overlapping ends of the rear strap 13a not only brace the front strap` 13 but also lie adjacent and overlap thejguide portions of strap 17 forming a rigid and easily workable structure. The function of the screw 10 is the same as in any ordinary monkey wrench, being turned by collar 10a fixed thereon to move the half-nut and Carr r the movable jaw backand forth.

i In Fig-8 I have disclosed my invention as being applied to an automobile or machinists wrench7 asimilar; release mechanism being used. In this instance the shank 19 of theV fixed jaw 20 is provided with the usual teeth 21, andhas slidably received thereonv the usual movable jaw 22. In this embodiment I have provided the forward slide strap 23, the rear attached strap 24, and guideestrap 25, allconstructed and arranged to function as described in connection with Figs. 1 to 7,

including the spring and catchor the spring alone. It will be noticed howeverV that the front strap 23 in this form ofmy invention instead of carrying one-half of a split nut carries ascrew v26 which is" adapted to cooperate with the aforementioned Vteeth to actuate the movable jaw. j

In operating my improved wrench to ad- Vjust the Vposition of the jaws With respect to the nut or other obj ect to be manipulated the Vconnected strap vmembers 12B-13a carrying the movable'threaded member of ,thel split nut is slid upon the guidemembers 17-17 `at. opposite sides of the movable jawtov disv engage said threaded member from the screw 10, and the strap member 13a riding over the hump on the spring catch 16 will be held by the latter in thisposition so that themovable jaw may be-readily adjusted on the shank to an approximate position with relation to the nut to bev manipulated. When the catch is released' forV engagement `of the'threaded member 11 of the nut on the wrench with the screw 10 the latter may be turned for closer adjustment in the usual manner, during which adjustment thecatch serves to hold the member 1'1- in positive engagement with the adjusting screw.

Having fully described my invention in Iclaim; 1. A wrench comprising an Velongated shank having a handle at one end and a fixed jaw at the other end, a movable jaw slidable on the shank with respect to-the fixed jaw, and cooperating threadedlmembers one of which is carried'by the' shank and the other by the slidable jaw, the member carriedby the jaw beingy movable to andfrom the companion member for engagement therewith to slide the movable jaw on theshankgtogether with means for operating the movable threaded member'consisting of a metal strap secured thereto and embracing themovable jaw with a connecting y ends-ofthe strap beyond the rear end of the movable'j aw and the sidesof said strap provided with slots, a strap extending around the rear end of the movable jaw to which itv is attached and having the ends thereof lostrapv and rear end of the movable'jaw to move the parts to normal position with the threaded members of thewrench in engage` ment with each other, and a spring catch secured to the movable jaw and engaging the connecting portion ofthe strap carrying the movable member of the nut to hold saidstrap in either position to which it is shifted.

2.,A wrench comprising `an elongated shank havingahandle at one end and a. fixed jaw Vat theother end, a movable jaw slidable on the shank with respect to the fixed jaw, and cooperating threaded membersA one of which iscarried the shank and the other bythe slidable jaw, the member carried by the jaw beingmovable' to and from the companion member y lfor disengagement therewith to slide the movable .jaw on the shank; together withmeans for operating the movable threadedk member, consisting of aU- shaped metal strap'the bight .portion Aof which is secured to said member andV the ends, thereof bifurc'ated Vand Hextended beyond the rear end of the movable j aw,'a metal strap connected to the Vends of theV aforesaid strapto form a crosspiece spaced from the rear end yof theV movable jaw, a U-shaped'.

ioo

guides therefor, a spring interposed between the movable jaw and cross piece of the strap carrying the movable threaded member of the Wrench, and a spring catch secured to the ,l movable jaw and having a hump engaging III 

